tudor parfitt, a british historian, and one of the leading academics on jewish roots in africa. he has written a number of books on the topic.
mr. parfitt, in speeches, shares the tale of how he went to africa and was able to write out his ethiopian experience when he was with the beta israel when operation moses took place. operation moses was the state of israel’s first mass evacuation the ethiopian jews to their promised land, israel. with this, mr. parfitt authored a book.
he traveled to south africa to give a lecture on his book. there, he had an encounter. he tells that tale that he tells of the tale that he noticed, that in the back of the room of the lecture hall filled with white people, there was a group of black men who were wearing yamulkes aka skull caps.
after the lecture, he introduced himself to them and they told him that they were jewish. he reported he was skeptical. they invited him to back to where they lived. this was the beginning of his involvement with the jewish tribe of the lemba. as a result of this encounter, mr. parfitt has generated much scholarly work.
perhaps, the other side of the story may be more intriguing. why did the lemba tribe members attend the lecture? where they aware of beta israel in a historical context? or, was their existence something new to them? was attending the lecture intended as a coming out party of sorts? were they ready to introduce themselves to the academic world and the world by using professor parfitt as their medium? was their intent to establish a connection with the state of israel along the lines with the beta israel?
the lemba’s side of the encounter is worthy of their tale telling. people often speak of moses encountering god at the burning bush. people, however, rarely discuss the fact that moses traveled to the “mountain of god” during that encounter. was moses in search of the master of the universe at the time of his encounter?
in sum, sometimes, there are many stories within a story.
be well!!
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